~In 1940 the Nazis began to establish ghettos for the Jews of Poland.
~More than 10% of the Polish population was Jewish, a total of three million people.
~Jews were forced to leave their homes and to live in crowded ghettos which caused them to be isolated from the rest of their society. If the Jews had been there for a certain period of time, they then were sent to death camps.
~Ghettos lacked food, water, space, and sanitary facilities.
~Conditions were so bad that captives formed resistances and tried to escape, most were unsuccessful. Those who escaped lived in forests and mountains in partisan units.
Types
-Closed ghettos ~Primarily in German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union
~Were called ‘closed ghettos’ because they were closed off by walls or fences of barbed wire.
~A result of German authorities forcing Jews to live in the closed ghettos were starvation, chronic shortages of food and supply, and the outbreak of epidemics and many deaths due to severe winter weather, inadequate and unheated housing, and no laws protecting the people.
People being forced into the ghettos
-Open ghettos ~German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union, as well as in Transnistria ~Had no walls or fences
~But had tight restrictions on entering and leaving the premises
-Destruction Ghettos ~German-occupied Soviet Union (Lithuania and Ukraine) and in Hungary ~Tightly sealed off
~Open between 2-6 weeks before Germans and/or other collaborators deported or killed the Jewish Populations living in them
People being moved into a Destruction Ghetto
Major Ghettos
Lodz
Lodz was located in central Poland, it was the second largest Jewish community in Europe, second only to Warsaw. While the Nazis attacked, Poles and Jews worked hard to dig ditched to defend their cities. Seven days after the attack of Poland began, Lodz was occupied. In Lodz Jews began targets for beatings, for robberies, and seizure of property.
There were 230,000 Jews in Lodz and they were already feeling that it was the beginning of the Nazi persecution. In November 7, 1938, Lodz was included in the Third Reich and the Nazi’s name was changed to Litzmannstadt. The name is named after a German soldier. In this city there were many killings and beatings on the street. Jews throughout the city were ordered to move into tightly packed areas that were packed in less than a minute. There was a average of 3 people per room but the rooms were very tight.
In April a fence went up surrounding the whole ghetto resident which caused on April 30, the ghetto was closed. On May 1, 1940, merely eight months after the German invasion, the Lodz ghetto was officially sealed.
Warsaw
**
· 400,000 Jews were chosen to live in a small part of the town where 113,000 used to live. The area was 3 square miles
o The 30% of Warsaw’s population was being squeezed into a living space made for 2.4% of the population. Resulting in 6 to 7 people per room
· The ghetto was constructed in October 1940, and by November, there was a 10 foot, barb wire wall separating the Jews from the rest of the city
· Many shops tried remaining open. Such as cafes, newspaper stands, and schools.
· If any person still had some wealth, they would use that money to bribe guards to smuggle food
The average calorie consumption of the Jews were 200 calories a day, the average calorie consumption a day to be healthy is around 2000.
· Many Jews eventually starved to death until the “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”
· Starting from July 22, 1942 to September 12, Warsaw would deport 7000 Jews a day to Umschlagplatz and Treblinka.
o Treblinka being a death camp for the Jews.
Bialystok
A city in northeastern Poland was assigned to the Soviet zone of occupation. Soviet forces took over in September of 1939, and stayed until the German army took over in June of 1941. When Germany forces took over, Einstazgruppe detachments (mobile killing units) and Order Police battalions got together and killed thousands of Jews in Bialystok.
In August 1941, Germans established a ghetto in the city. About 50,000 Jews were confined in this ghetto. The ghetto was divided in half, separated by the Biala River. Most Jews in the ghetto worked in forced-labor projects; mostly in large textile factories within the city boundaries, and some in forced-labor projects outside the ghetto.
In August 1943, Germans mounted an operation to destroy the Bialystok ghetto. German soldiers and local police forces surrounded the ghetto and rounded up Jews for deportation to theTreblinka extermination camp. Those who were too sick or weak to travel were killed. Those deemed fit to work were sent to the Majdanek camp. There, more people were screened for the ability to work and were sent to the Poniatowa, Blizyn, or Auschwitz camps. Those to weak to work were murdered in Majdanek. 1,000 Jewish children were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Bohemia, then sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were killed.
In August of 1943, during the deporations, the Bialystok ghetto underground staged an urising against the German forces. Armed Jews attacked German forces near the boundaries of the ghetto in an unsuccessful attempted to break out and join partisans in nearby forests. The fighting lasted for 5 days; hundreds of Jews died in the battle. Seventy-one Jewish fighters were executed when they were found in a bunker and captured. More than a hundred Jews managed to escape the horrid ghetto and join the partisan groups near Bialystok. The Soviet army released Bialystok in August of 1944.
Judenrat
· Jewish council created by German orders
· Responsible for all matters inside a ghetto.
· Believed that by cooperating with Germans, they could make their living conditions better
o Were able to set up hospitals, soup kitchens, and basic sanitation
· Many of the Judenrat were under the pressure of German authorities.
· Used the Judenrat to send Jews to death camps
Ghettos
~In 1940 the Nazis began to establish ghettos for the Jews of Poland.Origins
~More than 10% of the Polish population was Jewish, a total of three million people.
~Jews were forced to leave their homes and to live in crowded ghettos which caused them to be isolated from the rest of their society. If the Jews had been there for a certain period of time, they then were sent to death camps.
~Ghettos lacked food, water, space, and sanitary facilities.
~Conditions were so bad that captives formed resistances and tried to escape, most were unsuccessful. Those who escaped lived in forests and mountains in partisan units.
-Closed ghettosTypes
~Primarily in German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union
~Were called ‘closed ghettos’ because they were closed off by walls or fences of barbed wire.
~A result of German authorities forcing Jews to live in the closed ghettos were starvation, chronic shortages of food and supply, and the outbreak of epidemics and many deaths due to severe winter weather, inadequate and unheated housing, and no laws protecting the people.
-Open ghettos~German-occupied Poland and the occupied Soviet Union, as well as in Transnistria
~Had no walls or fences
~But had tight restrictions on entering and leaving the premises
-Destruction Ghettos
~German-occupied Soviet Union (Lithuania and Ukraine) and in Hungary
~Tightly sealed off
~Open between 2-6 weeks before Germans and/or other collaborators deported or killed the Jewish Populations living in them
Major Ghettos
Lodz
Lodz was located in central Poland, it was the second largest Jewish community in Europe, second only to Warsaw. While the Nazis attacked, Poles and Jews worked hard to dig ditched to defend their cities. Seven days after the attack of Poland began, Lodz was occupied. In Lodz Jews began targets for beatings, for robberies, and seizure of property.Warsaw
- **
· 400,000 Jews were chosen to live in a small part of the town where 113,000 used to live. The area was 3 square mileso The 30% of Warsaw’s population was being squeezed into a living space made for 2.4% of the population. Resulting in 6 to 7 people per room
· The ghetto was constructed in October 1940, and by November, there was a 10 foot, barb wire wall separating the Jews from the rest of the city
· Many shops tried remaining open. Such as cafes, newspaper stands, and schools.
· If any person still had some wealth, they would use that money to bribe guards to smuggle food
The average calorie consumption of the Jews were 200 calories a day, the average calorie consumption a day to be healthy is around 2000.· Many Jews eventually starved to death until the “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”
· Starting from July 22, 1942 to September 12, Warsaw would deport 7000 Jews a day to Umschlagplatz and Treblinka.
o Treblinka being a death camp for the Jews.
BialystokA city in northeastern Poland was assigned to the Soviet zone of occupation. Soviet forces took over in September of 1939, and stayed until the German army took over in June of 1941. When Germany forces took over, Einstazgruppe detachments (mobile killing units) and Order Police battalions got together and killed thousands of Jews in Bialystok.
In August 1941, Germans established a ghetto in the city. About 50,000 Jews were confined in this ghetto. The ghetto was divided in half, separated by the Biala River. Most Jews in the ghetto worked in forced-labor projects; mostly in large textile factories within the city boundaries, and some in forced-labor projects outside the ghetto.
In August 1943, Germans mounted an operation to destroy the Bialystok ghetto. German soldiers and local police forces surrounded the ghetto and rounded up Jews for deportation to theTreblinka extermination camp. Those who were too sick or weak to travel were killed. Those deemed fit to work were sent to the Majdanek camp. There, more people were screened for the ability to work and were sent to the Poniatowa, Blizyn, or Auschwitz camps. Those to weak to work were murdered in Majdanek. 1,000 Jewish children were sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto in Bohemia, then sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were killed.
In August of 1943, during the deporations, the Bialystok ghetto underground staged an urising against the German forces. Armed Jews attacked German forces near the boundaries of the ghetto in an unsuccessful attempted to break out and join partisans in nearby forests. The fighting lasted for 5 days; hundreds of Jews died in the battle. Seventy-one Jewish fighters were executed when they were found in a bunker and captured. More than a hundred Jews managed to escape the horrid ghetto and join the partisan groups near Bialystok.
The Soviet army released Bialystok in August of 1944.
Judenrat
· Jewish council created by German orders· Responsible for all matters inside a ghetto.
· Believed that by cooperating with Germans, they could make their living conditions better
o Were able to set up hospitals, soup kitchens, and basic sanitation
· Many of the Judenrat were under the pressure of German authorities.
· Used the Judenrat to send Jews to death camps